Journal, Cabinet, Multilingual Parlour, Untranslated Conference Room, Repository of Erudite Pastimes, even a Gymnasium for the Polemist and the Humorist; Consacrated to Oddities and Facts Concerning Peculiarities of Theatrical Amusements related to the Circus, Conjuring, Comedy etc.; their Connections with Fine Arts; the Uncovering the Curiosities of their Past, and the Critical and Hopefully Provocative Account of what of Interest is Remaining of their Uncertain Present. Profusely Illustrated.

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Smoke Manipulations

Today we wish to talk about an immense performer.

He was more than a fakir. He was better than a magician. He was somehow a smoke manipulator, if such a category is allowed to exist in the enough extravagant taxonomy of show business. His technique was based on hiding and multiplying of lighted cigarettes: an imm ensely difficult task.José Frakson, (1891-1981) from Spain, was one of the great last vaudeville headliner, of the golden age of Olympia in Paris or the Palace in Time Square. From the late 10s to the 40s, he witnessed the last era of the greatest hotel ballrooms in the world; when ballroom entertainment was a matter of class, elegance, original talent and real showmanship.

poster copyright N.Nielsen

Today, instead of capturing your gaze with our usual gallery, we invite you to take just three minutes of your time. Please, disconnect your telephones, obscure even the windows, try to do the possible to forget everything surrounding you. Travel through the time, relax yourself. You can choice to be in the Rainbow Room at the top of Rockefeller Plaza; or in a Miami nightclub, at the Pierre hotel, or at the Wintergarten in Berlin. And, when ready, enjoy Frakson.

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Raffaele De Ritis

Impostor of the international stage arts, he is said out from a noble estinguished family of Southern Italy. From childhood he attempted escapes to the strolling life. Without refusing an academic theatrical education in Rome and Paris, he began to earn his life in the frequentation of carny barkers, crocodile hypnotists, quick-change virtuosos, aerialists, actors, ballet étoiles.Nobody knows why and when producers began trusting in his directorial services, spreading his signature around the globe: from Savary, Brachetti, or Larible; to American sanctuaries as Big Apple Circus or Cirque du Soleil. It is in his hands that Feld dared to put the concept of Barnum’s Kaleidoscape; and the Princess Grace Theatre of Monte Carlo or Spoleto Festival trusted for magic events or Shakespeare stagings.He wrote books and dictionaries about theatre, circus and magic; his signature infestated in the last 20 years major international circus periodicals. Mentalism, training of escapologists, academic lecturing on silent movies are other ways to assure his existence besides writing and directing.Mixing forgotten Martini recipes and tracking theatrical memorabilia are his beloved pastimes.